Netflix sues creators of The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical

Netflix are suing the creators of the Grammy-winning stage play The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical.

Lawyers for the streaming service argued in a filing on Friday (29 July) that Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear had profited off the intellectual property of their hit streaming series Bridgerton.

The allegations centre on a 26 July performance of the musical at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, as well as a forthcoming perfomance in London’s Royal Albert Hall.

The lawsuit also cites the selling of “their own line of Bridgerton-themed merchandise”.

“Bridgerton reflects the creative work and hard-earned success of hundreds of artists and Netflix employees,” the suit says (per The Hollywood Reporter).

“Netflix owns the exclusive right to create Bridgerton songs, musicals, or any other derivative works based on Bridgerton. Barlow & Bear cannot take that right — made valuable by others’ hard work — for themselves, without permission. Yet that is exactly what they have done.”

The lawsuit also states that Bear and Barlow were among “countless” fans of the Bridgerton TV series who started sharing musical compositions inspired by the series on social media after its first season dropped in December 2020.

According to the filing, the live show, however, featured content that taken “verbatim” from the series. It is also claimed that tickets for their sold-out show at the Kennedy Center sold for as much as $149 (£122).